Charging batteries using alkaline pack?

[Ohio_Chaney]

Has anyone tried using Li-ion batteries in the alkaline pack and charging them with the Minelab charger? My factory battery is not holding a charge but I have a couple alkaline packs that I can use. Seems like it would be possible but there might be a control circuit that communicates with the charger.

I was also thinking about getting the GPZ battery for extended life, has anyone tried one and compared run time to the original?

Thanks,
Scott

 

[IDXMonster]

There is indeed a circuit board on the rechargeable pack that is not on the AA pack, so even if the charger did engage, it might not know when to stop, I would not try it. The GPZ battery does have more runtime at the expense of being bigger and weighing more obviously, I think the runtime was stated as +20-25%. The BC-10 will charge both.

 

[trojdor]

OC,
Alkaline packs aren't seen by ML charger for safety reasons.

Rechargeable lithiums are twice the voltage per cell of alkaline. (3.4 - 3.7 volts)
If you found some rechargeable AA lithiums to fit the pack, and charge them somehow, it would likely fry the detector in short order.

Non-rechargeable lithiums are about 1.7v per cell, but trying to recharge them would be ..... bad.
I seem to recall GPZ battery will work just fine on CTX, but I've slept since then, lol. (pretty sure it does, though)

Your best bet is using Eneloop NiMH rechargeables, and removing them from the AA pack to charge on a dedicated external AA charger.
I do that for my backup packs, and it works well.

Note that the 'loaded' AA pack is heavier than the standard pack, so the GPZ battery might still be an option.
(Might even be a better balance, especially if you're using the 17" coil. )

mike

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

I'm with Trojdor:

Eneloops or any quality low self discharge NiMH cells work well, I've used them on all my detectors including CTX and Explorers. They cost about double the price of a high quality Alkaline, but you can recharge them thousands of times. Regular NiMH cells may be rated for more MA hours, but if not used soon after charging will self discharge fairly quickly. The low self discharge variety will still be good a year or two after you last charged them.

Lithium cells will last a bit longer, but cost more and are not drop in replaceable in the alkaline packs.

As Trojdor stated you will need a NiMH charger and need to pop them out of the pack to charge.

I haven't bought a regular alkaline cell for years; everything I own I use the eneloops, and my grand-kids will probably inherit them in working condition with hundreds of charges remaining.

Chris(SoCenWI)

 

[Ohio_Chaney]

Thanks for all the replies! That helps a lot.

I will probably go with a dedicated charger for NiMH and use them instead of spending 200 on the GPZ pack. I just hate to keep buying Alkalines.

 

[robby4570]

Has anyone tried using Li-ion batteries in the alkaline pack and charging them with the Minelab charger? My factory battery is not holding a charge but I have a couple alkaline packs that I can use. Seems like it would be possible but there might be a control circuit that communicates with the charger.

I was also thinking about getting the GPZ battery for extended life, has anyone tried one and compared run time to the original?

Thanks,
Scott

My AA pack won't seat properly in the ML charger. I use 2 AA Packs with rechargeable batteries but have an 8 position charger so I can charge a packs worth of batteries in a few hours. I also have the Rechargeable ML pack, Typically I never have all 3 charged at the same time. I'll rotate the 2 AA packs.